Israeli police arrest suspects for spitting near Christians

Jewish worshippers pray during the weeklong holiday of Sukkot. Pic/AP

Israeli police said they arrested several people suspected of spitting in the direction of Christian pilgrims and churches in Jerusalem this week as religious tensions flared anew in the contested capital that the three Abrahamic faiths consider holy.

As Jews celebrate Sukkot - the weeklong Feast of Tabernacles that marks the fall harvest and commemorates the desert wandering of the Jews during the Exodus - processions of ultra-Orthodox Jews through the Old City's narrow streets have led to numerous spitting incidents and left Jerusalem on edge.

One person was detained after a spitting incident from one of the processions was caught on video and provoked widespread outrage on social media. The video, first captured by an Israeli hotline for anti-Christian assaults, shows ultra-Orthodox Jews spitting at the feet of foreign Christian worshipers in the Old City of Jerusalem.

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Police also arrested five other people for allegedly spitting toward churches on Wednesday. One was charged with assault, and four were charged with unlawful disorderly conduct, police said.

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